Memorandum devices



June 20, 1967 i=. GREIF 3,326,577

MEMORANDUM DEVI CES Filed Oct. 23, 1965 Q 35 l/ 24 26 43 44 44 5'8 3 587 Z\5 i /43 2 16 2 I. 21

United States Patent 3,326,577 MEMORANDUM DEVICES Francis Greif, 199Sussex Gardens, London W. 2, England Filed Oct. 23, 1965, Ser. No.502,920 Claims priority, application Great Britain, May 10, 1965,19,726/65 1 Claim. (Cl. 2S18) This invention relates to memorandumdevices of the type which comprise a casing having on the interior twopairs of axially aligned bearings for detachably supporting a reelbetween each pair, the reels being parallel, spaced apart and connectedby a lengthy strip of paper which is rolled around each reel in suchmanner that whilst the paper is being unwound from one reel it issimultaneously wound on to the other, the casing further housing a tableover which the paper lying between the two reels passes, and having anupper thickness located closely adjacent the table and provided with awindow of such location and dimensions that a portion of the outersurface of the paper situated above the table is accessible therethroughto be written upon.

Such a device is known in which the casing houses a small electric motorassociated with an electric battery, with selective switch means andoperating driving belt gearing for the controlled winding and unwindingof the paper from one reel to the other, as desired.

According to the present invention, two similar small electric motorsare provided in the casing, the first in association with one reel ofpaper and the second with the other reel of paper, and the two motorsare included in a circuit with selective switch means and one or moreremovable batteries, all so arranged that (a) only one motor can beswitched into circuit at any time, leaving the other idle, and (b) thisswitched-in motor turns in such direction that it winds the paper on toits associated reel and pulls the paper from the other reel, whose motoris not running.

By the selective operation of the switch means, it will be appreciatedthat the paper may be wound from one reel to the other, at will, andthus enable either fresh paper to be brought into the window space, orelse for the paper to be run bac to show notes or the like made on thepaper upon a previous occasion.

In a preferred construction, the driving means associated with eachother comprises a driving wheel with a periphery of resilient material,carried by a spring-pressed lever arm which is applied by the springpressure to the projecting shaft of its associated electric motor, andthe resilient periphery of which is also geared to the serratedperiphery of a driving flange at the end of the associated reel.

- In order that the invention may be better understood, it will now bedescribed with reference to the accompanying somewhat diagrammaticdrawings which are given by way of example only and in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view, as it would appear laid on a desk for example, ofone form of memorandum device made in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a somewhat diagrammatic perspective view of the device shownin FIGS. 1 and 2 and with the cover open.

FIG. 4 is a plan view, to a larger scale, of the body portion of thecasing, with the cover open and certain parts removed, and

FIG. 5 is a side elevation, partly in section, of FIG. 4, but with thecover in position and the side wall removed to show the driving means,

The casing, which may be made of a suitable plastic material, comprisesa body 6 and a cover 7 with a window 8, which cover is hinged to thebody at 9. In plan, FIG. 1, this casing is of rectangular shape with thelonger sides extending away from the user and with a gap 10 in the coveradjacent one edge of the window 8, for the projection of themanipulating part 11 of a switch. This manipulating part is a serratedsegment of a circle so that finger-contact pressure in the directiontowards the user will cause the paper to move towards the user, whilstwith the same finger-contact pressure in the other direction, i.e., awayfrom the user, the paper will be caused to move away from the user.

The front and back of the casing are shaped and curved to give a roundedstreamlined effect, and the dimensions are such that the top of thecasing slopes from the back slightly downwardly towards the front, thatis to say, towards the user. The hinge 9 is at the back and there is aspring catch 12 at the front to hold the cover in the closed position.

Although the internal parts may be mounted directly in the base 13 ofthe body, preferably, and as shown in the drawings, they are carried byan inner framework or chassis which preferably is of a plastic materialand which is fixed and registered in the base 13 of the casing by asuitable screw 14 (FIG. 5); other suitable fixing means may be used ifdesired.

This framework or chassis has a base 15 which has secured theretoradiating fixed contacts 16 suitably connected to the various componentsof the circuit (not shown in detail).

The outer ends of the contacts are free and pass upwardly to makeconnection with contacts (not shown) beneath a part-disc 17 ofinsulating material adapted to be moved through a small angle in eitherdirection from a neutral position about a vertical pivot 18, by themanipulating part 11 of the switch. As shown in FIG. 3, the manipulatingpart 11 has an arm 19 of a two-armed lever, the other short arm 20 ofwhich is located between projections 21 and 22 on the rear edge of thepart-disc 17. Spring means (not shown) normally maintain the parts inthe neutral position (shown in the drawing) but when the manipulatingpart 11 is finger-pressed in one direction the part-disc 17 movesthrough a small angle in one direction, to switch one motor (to behereafter described) into circuit. As long as the finger pressure ismaintained, the motor continues to run. Upon release of the pressure,the switch parts return to the neutral position and the motor stops. Ifthe finger pressure is in the other direction, the part-disc 17 movesthrough a small angle in a direction opposite to the previous movement.This switches the other motor (to be hereafter described) into circuitand, similarly, when the finger pressure is released the parts return tothe neutral position.

The inner framework or chassis further has two longitudinal side Walls24 which towards the ends have opentopped vertical slots 25 foraccommodating and forming bearings for the ends 26 of the spindles ofthe paper reels 27 on which the paper 28 is wound to constitute rolls29. One side wall 24 has part cross partitions 30 and 31 to which smallelectric motors 32 and 33, respectively, are fixed, so that the shafts34 and 35, respectively, come into the correct positions to etfect thedrive as hereafter described. The electric motors are firmly held instrong clips 51 having integrated threaded studs 52 passing through thepartitions 30 or 31 and firmly clamped in position by nuts and washers53. In suitable positions, this side wall 24 has apertures 36 and 37 forthe passage of the spindles of the driving wheels, to be hereafterdescribed.

The driving means for each reel comprises a resilient wheel 38 mountedon a spindle 39 carried by the free end of a lever 40 fixedly pivoted tothe side member 24 at 41.

The lever 40 is on the exterior of the side member 24, and the spindle39 passes through an aperture (36 or 37) so that its wheel 38 is inresilient pressure meshing engagement with the shaft (34 or 35) of theassociated electric motor. The wheel 38 is kept pressed into engagementwith the motor shaft by an expanding V spring 42, and stop means 43 areprovided to limit the expanding movement of the lever 41}.

Each end of a reel 27 for the paper 28 has fixed thereto a flange 44with a serrated periphery, and the two driving wheels 38 are so locatedthat when the parts are in position with the cover 7 closed, then theserrated periphery of one flange 44 of the reel 29 at the back of thedevice, and one flange 44 of the reel 29 at the front of the device, arepressed into meshing contact with the respective driving wheels 38, asshown in FIGS. 4 and 5. This is assured by providing the inner surfacesof the sides of the cover 7 with inwardly projecting ridges, one ofwhich ridges 45 appears in FIG. 3, and it, and the similar-purpose ridgeon the other side, are so shaped and positioned that they come over andcontact the projecting spindle ends 26 of the reels and form the upperparts of the bearings therefor. However, they press down on the spindleends 26 (which do not contact the lower ends of the slots 25) to ensurethat the serrated peripheries of the particular flanges 44 are in drivencontact with the driving wheels 38.

As a result, when the motor 32 is caused to turn it causes the reel 27at the back of the device to have paper 28 wound thereon.Simultaneously, paper is pulled from the reel 29 at the front of thedevice, and this latter action causes the particular flange 44 of thisreel to turn its resilient wheel 38, which in turn may rotate the shaft35 of the motor 33. The motor 33 is not driven and consequently the pullof the paper from off the front reel 27 merely has a braking effect,which keeps the paper 28 passing the window 8 at the desired tension.The paper appearing at the window is supported by a table 46 detachablycarried by the upper edges of the members 24 of the inner framework orthe chassis.

The inner side wall 24 in a central position, as indicated in FIG. 3,has a pivotal support for the three-position switch and also has partcross partitions 47 which carry in a facing manner the combined clipsand carriers 48 for two cylindrical batteries, not shown in position butone, 49, of which is indicated by dotted lines, FIG. 4. Above thesebatteries and supported by the side walls 24, is located the removabletable 46 which forms a support for the paper Whilst it is being writtenupon.

The batteries may be flat in place of cylindrical, and

in some cases there may be only a single battery and in other cases morethan two batteries may be included in simple series circuits controlledby the switch device 17 in a well known manner. In any case, the batteryarrangement is in a pair of simple series circuits in a well knownmanner so that the required voltage and current are selectively suppliedto either of the motors when it is in one of said simple seriescircuits.

A similar circuit arrangement is shown as old in US. Patent 1,615,153,issued to Alessio, Jan. 18, 1927.

At the front, on the interior, the body 6 of the casing has open-toppedbearings 50 (FIGS. 3 and 4) to accommodate the projecting ends, such as26, of the spindle of a spare reel of paper which is held in positionwhen the cover is closed but which is free for removal when the cover isopen.

The invention is not limited to the precise forms or details ofconstruction herein described, as these may be varied to suit particularrequirements.

What I claim is:

In a memorandum device, upper and lower casing parts, a chassis frame inthe lower casing part having two pairs of axially aligned bearings withthe axis of each pair parallel and at a desired spacing, two similarreels having spindles projecting from the ends thereof received in saidaligned bearings with one reel mounted in each pair of bearings, alengthy strip of paper Wound on and connecting the two reels in such amanner that when the paper is being unwound from one reel it will besimultaneously woundon the other, a table supported in the lower casingpart over which the paper passes between the two rolls and in contactwith said table, said upper part of the casing being located closelyabove the table and being provided with a window so located that theportion of the outer surface of the paper situated on the table isaccessible therethrough to be written upon, a serrated flange at the endof each reel, two separate and suitably supported electric motorsadapted to wind and unwind the paper on said reels, a lever pivoted to afixed part of said chassis frame, a resilient wheel mounted on the freeend of said lever in driving engagement with said serrated flange ateach end of said chassis frame, yielding spring means for urging saidresilient wheel into engagement with said serrated flange on the end ofeach reel and simultaneously into engagement with the armature shaft ofeach motor whereby each motor shaft will be connected to its associatedreel through an intermediate resilient wheel with which both the motorshaft and driving member of the reel are in pressure engagement so thatwhen one of the motors is caused to wind paper onto the reel to whichits shaft is geared, the other motor will not be energized and the paperdrawn ofl? the reel to which the last mentioned motor is geared iscaused to rotate the members of the reduction gearing associated withthe undriven reel, electric battery means in said casing supported bysaid frame, manually operable switch means for selectively energizingeither of said motors-and adapted to electrically connect said batterymeans therewith, said chassis frame being removably aflixed to saidlower casing part, and means on the upper casing part to engage the endsof said reel spindles and urge the serrated flange at one end of saidreels into engagement with said resilient intermediate wheel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,315,425 9/1919 Semon 40-311,450,446 4/1923 Nelson 2819 1,615,153 1/1927 Alessio 4031 X 2,696,75312/1954 Segal et al 4031 X 2,916,303 12/1959 Greif 2818 LAWRENCECHARLES, Primary Examiner.

